Match Report Bremen

FCBayernNews · News fetcher Joined: 31 Aug 2006 Posts: 1240 votes: 2

21.10.2006

Weary Bayern battled bravely either side of half-time and took their league goals total to 3,000, but leaders Bremen were the better team on the day.

A 42,500 capacity crowd at the Weser stadium saw the home side dominate the opening exchanges and rattle up a two-goal lead courtesy of Brazilian playmaker Diego and Cameroon defender Pierre Womé.

Bayern were in trouble, but Roy Makaay pulled one back with the club's 3,000th Bundesliga goal in a stirring rally before half-time, and the Bavarians piled on the pressure in the fifteen minutes after the restart.

Against the run of play, Bremen extended their lead on the hour with a fluke when the desperately unlucky Lucio put through his own goal. That misfortune utterly took the wind from the visitors' sails and the men in red lacked the energy and inspiration to stage a second fight-back.

Bayern's third away defeat on the bounce sees the double winners slip to fourth in the standings, three points behind leaders Bremen after eight matches.

Roy for Roque

As predicted in the build-up to the mouth-watering clash between Germany's leading club sides, Reds boss Felix Magath reverted to the line-up for the 4-2 victory over Berlin last weekend, Makaay coming in for Roque Santa Cruz as the coach persisted with his 4-3-3 formation.

The northerners, currently top of the standings and in ebullient mood after a run of three clean sheets on the bounce, began in assured fashion and Naldo's header tested Oliver Kahn just two minutes into the match.

Ex-Red Torsten Frings then blasted high and wide, but the midfielder turned provider with a glorious 11th minute through ball for Diego to skin an uncomfortable Lucio and rifle an unstoppable drive past Kahn.

Reds rally

The champions struggled to create chances but Claudio Pizarro so nearly equalised with the visitors' first real opening, collecting Mark van Bommel's neat pass and lobbing home keeper Tim Wiese, only to see Germany stopper Per Mertesacker hack clear off the line.

Makaay drove wide from Bastian Schweinsteiger's lay-off, but Werder remained the livelier of the sides and when it came, Womé's thumping strike from fully 25 yards to double the advantage on 34 minutes was neither undeserved nor unexpected.

However, that was the signal for Bremen to shift down a gear and the double winners staged a valiant rally, culminating in Makaay's classic poacher's strike after Pizarro headed Willy Sagnol's free-kick back across goal with Daniel van Buyten making a real nuisance of himself in the middle.

Unlucky Lucio

The goal ushered in a period of sustained Bayern pressure spanning the interval, although clear-cut chances remained elusive as the home side focused on closing down space.

But out of the blue, Werder restored their two-goal cushion on 62 minutes when Womé sprinted clear down the left and Lucio, desperately attempting to hold off the effervescent Aaron Hunt, inadvertently turned the ball past Kahn for an unlucky own goal.

Magath introduced Hasan Salihamidzic and Ali Karimi for the below-par van Bommel and Lukas Podolski, but Bremen continued to threaten on the break and Kahn pulled out a fine reaction stop to deny Hunt after the youngster had left Lucio for dead.

No way back

The Brazilian was injured in the incident to complete his miserable afternoon, and Martin Demichelis took over for the final quarter-hour, but a couple of Pizarro efforts aside, the champions looked heavy-legged and a third league defeat of term was no longer avoidable.

Live match report for fcbayern.de by Chris Hamley